安室奈美恵 (Namie Amuro), born September 20, 1977, is a Japanese retired pop ar… Read Full Bio ↴安室奈美恵 (Namie Amuro), born September 20, 1977, is a Japanese retired pop artist from Okinawa, Japan. She is one of the best-selling artists ever in Japan with total sales of approximately 38,000,000 singles and albums. She has released 12 studio albums, 7 compilation albums and 47 singles, as of November 2018.

She initially debuted in 1992 as the lead singer of SUPER MONKEY'S, with fellow Okinawa Actors School classmates MAX as back dancers. After the group disbanded, she eventually had her solo debut in 1995 on the Avex Trax label with the Tetsuya Komuro produced single "Body Feels EXIT", which was an instant hit. The following singles "Chase the Chance", "Don't wanna cry" and "You're my sunshine" all sold 1 million copies during a short period of time. In 1996, Namie released her debut solo album "SWEET 19 BLUES" which sold 3.8 millions of copies throughout Japan and broke sales records at the time. It is the 12th most selling album of all time in Japan. At the end of 1996 she won the Grand Prix Award, the highest honor at the Japan Record Awards, for "Don't wanna cry". Another monumental release for Amuro was 1997's "CAN YOU CELEBRATE?", which was the best selling release of the year, and remains the best-selling physically released single by a solo female artist in Japan.

In 1997, Namie shocked everyone when she announced that SAM (from the band TRF) and she were getting married and that she was pregnant. Namie took a break from the entertainment business and her son, Haruto, was born on May 19, 1998.

Her comeback single, "I HAVE NEVER SEEN", released on December 23rd the same year, gave Amuro a warm welcome back to the industry. "I HAVE NEVER SEEN" became Amuro's 9th number-one single.

On March 17th, 1999, Amuro released her 12th single, "RESPECT the POWER OF LOVE". On the same day, Emiko Taira, Amuro's mother, was murdered. All promotional activites for the single grinded to a halt as Amuro flew to Okinawa to identify Emiko's body. A short break followed for Amuro to recover.

A few months later, Amuro began to work with producer Dallas Austin, known for his work with American hip-hop/R&B trio, TLC. This shift was in part to Amuro's personal desire to create more R&B and Hip-Hop oriented music. In 2001, Amuro parted ways with long-time producer Tetsuya Komuro, as part of her musical direction shift. From this point on, Amuro always would be in complete creative control of her career. Around this time, Amuro made a few attempts at writing lyrics for her songs, including her single "Say the word", which hit #3 on the Oricon charts, and remained a fan-favorite with Amuro performing the song over numerous tours, including her final tour, which included 20 songs that garnered the most fan votes.

Amuro and SAM would divorce in 2002, and Amuro would completely mmerse herself in her work, hardening her R&B and Hip-Hop sound, collaboriating with a number of artists under a sonic project entitled "SUITE CHIC". "SUITE CHIC" helped empower Amuro to not "be stuck in the past" with her music, as she felt mentally constricted by her name at the time. Feeling liberated after releasing a SUITE CHIC album, Amuro would continue to refine her sound and image with the following albums "STYLE" in 2003, and "Queen of Hip-Pop" in 2005.

"PLAY", released on June 27, 2007, became Amuro's highest-selling studio album since her 2000 album, "GENIUS 2000", sold 540,000 copies, and contained another fan-favorite release, "Baby Don't Cry", which reached #3 on the Oricon charts.

2008 marked a new peak in Amuro's career. In March, she released a new single, "60s70s80s", which became her 10th #1 single, the first one for Amuro since 1998's "I HAVE NEVER SEEN".

Amuro released her third "best of" album "BEST FICTION", on July 30, 2008. "BEST FICTION" proceeded to spend 6 weeks at the #1 position on the Oricon charts, had the highest first-week album sales of any release in 2008, became the #2 best overall-selling album of that year, and has sold more than 1.4 million copies since its release.

Namie started a new arena tour called Namie Amuro BEST FICTION 2008-2009 tour. It ran from October 25, 2008 to May 31, 2009. This was her first tour Amuro held sans songs produced by Tetsuya Komuro.

From 2009 on, Amuro would steadily release chart-topping studio albums. Straying from the traditional methods of the Japanese music industry yet again, Amuro decided to utilize a strategy of focusing on touring as means of promotion, rather than TV and commercial appearances. What resulted was a beneficial business move, while fulfilling Amuro's long-time preference to perform over giving interviews. This cultivated a very loyal and diverse fanbase that would consistently result in sold-out shows whenever Amuro toured.

From 2010 to 2018, as Amuro performed relentlessly long tours every year, Amuro remained consistent and dedicated to giving performances she felt she could be proud of, and in the process, quietly withheld that after a vocal cord injury in 2010, Amuro's vocal cords slowly were deteriorating. Amuro later revealed this was the deciding factor in her retirement, as she did not want to perform at a level she personally could not accept.

After her 25th anniversary concert in Okinawa, Amuro announced that she would retire from the industry on September 16th, 2018. The masses, aggrieved with this announcement, even created the name "Amuloss" for the emotion that was felt, knowing Amuro would leave a great void in the music industry.

A greatest hits album, "Finally" would be released in November of 2017 and would go on to sell over 2.5 million copies and be the best-selling album in Japan for both 2017 and 2018. Starting in March 2018, "namie amuro Final Tour 2018 ~Finally~" would result in Amuro breaking both ticket and Blu-ray/DVD sales records. With shows in all 5 major Japanese domes, including and a handful of shows outside of Japan, nearly 800,000 were in attendance. Pre-orders alone for the Blu-rays/DVDs would exceed the best-selling concert video release at that time. Combined DVD and Blu-ray sales for "namie amuro Final Tour 2018 ~Finally~" have sold over 1.74 million since its release in late August 2018.

ハートに火をつけて
安室奈美恵 Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

きつくひいた赤いルージュ
汚してもかまわない
あなたがまだためらうなら
終わりにしてもいい
明日をただ守るだけの今日なら
欲しくない
優しさもわかるけれど
このままじゃいられない

Burning love burning love 火をつけて
もう愛は止まらない
Burning love burning love 壊したい
Ah 昨日の二人を
Wow wow wow burning beat ah

恋をしてる胸の鼓動
いつかは消えてゆくと
哀しそうにつぶやいてた
あなたをみつめてる
寂しさを埋めあうだけだったと思えない
あの頃のあのときめき
いまここで戻したい
Burning love burning love 火をつけて
いま愛が急いでる
Burning love burning love 恐くない
もう泣いたりはしない
Burning love burning love 確かめて
いまあなたのすべてで
Burning love burning love 信じてる
Ah 始まった二人
Wow wow wow burning beat ah

明日をただ守るだけの今日なら
欲しくない
優しさもわかるけれど
このままじゃいられない
Burning love burning love 火をつけて
もう愛は止まらない
Burning love burning love 壊したい
Ah 昨日の二人を

Wow wow wow burning beat ah ah

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to 安室奈美恵's song ハートに火をつけて (Light My Fire) begin with the first two lines that emphasize the idea of red hot passion, even to the extent of willing to paint oneself with crimson lipstick: “Kitsuku hiita akai rūju / yogoshite mo kamawanai”. This conveys the message that the singer is willing to go to great lengths to ignite a fire even if it means getting her hands dirty. In the following lines, she implores her partner to not hesitate and end their relationship if he is not able to reciprocate her feelings.

The chorus of "Burning Love" confirms the blazing passion that the singer has for her partner with lines like “Burning love burning love hi wo tsukete, mō ai wa tomara nai” (Burning love burning love light my fire, love won't stop now) and “Burning love burning love kowashitai, Ah kinō no futari wo” (Burning love burning love want to break, Ah the us from yesterday). The verses continue to emphasize the degree of love and attraction that the singer has for her partner, even expressing the fear of losing those feelings or seeing them fade away, and wanting to relive the excitement and joy of their early days together.

Overall, the song ハートに火をつけて is a love ballad that speaks about the intensity of love, passion, and desire. It communicates the message that, while love can be fragile and fleeting, it's also something that should be pursued fully and openly.

Line by Line Meaning

きつくひいた赤いルージュ
Applying thick red lipstick without caring if it gets dirty.

汚してもかまわない
Not minding if the lipstick gets ruined or smudged.

あなたがまだためらうなら
If you're still hesitant.

終わりにしてもいい
It's okay to just end it here.

明日をただ守るだけの今日なら
If today is just about protecting tomorrow.

欲しくない
I don't want it.

優しさもわかるけれど
I understand kindness, but...

このままじゃいられない
I can't stay like this.

Burning love burning love 火をつけて
Burning love, burning love, light a fire.

もう愛は止まらない
Love won't stop anymore.

Burning love burning love 壊したい
Burning love, burning love, I want to break it.